Scheme summarising the project "Manufacture of seaweed-derived bioplastic materials for a circular bioeconomy".

Project: Manufacture of seaweed-derived bioplastic materials for a circular bioeconomy.

Collaboration with @dremilykostas.bsky.social (main supervisor) and Notpla (industrial partner)

Funding: UCL EPSRC Landscape Awards.

Application link: lnkd.in/dRnz5766

Application deadline: 28th January 2025

Scheme summarising the project "Strategies to improve the antimicrobial properties of protein-based medical materials"

Project: Strategies to improve the antimicrobial properties of protein-based medical materials.

Funding: UCL EPSRC & BBSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Engineering Solutions for Antimicrobial Resistance.

Application link: lnkd.in/eHYtutxF

Application deadline: 26th January 2025

Hi! We have two very interesting PhD opportunities in our lab 🦠🧬🔬. Find more information and the application links below! 👇

Order–Disorder Balance in Silk-Elastin-like Polypeptides Determines Their Self-Assembly into Hydrogel Networks The biofabrication of recombinant structural proteins with a range of mechanical or structural features usually relies on the generation of protein libraries displaying variations in terms of amino acid composition, block structure, molecular weight, or physical/chemical cross-linking sites. This approach, while highly successful in generating a wealth of knowledge regarding the links between design features and material properties, has some inherent limitations related to its low throughput. This slows down the pace of the development of de novo recombinant structural proteins. Here, we propose an approach to tune the viscoelastic properties of temperature-responsive hydrogels made of silk-elastin-like polypeptides (SELPs) without modifying their sequence. To do so, we subject purified SELPs to two different postprocessing methods─water annealing or EtOH annealing─that alter the topology of highly disordered SELP networks via the formation of ordered intermolecular β-sheet physical cross-links. Combining different analytical techniques, we connect the order/disorder balance in SELPs with their gelling behavior. Furthermore, we show that introducing a functional block (in this case, a biomineralizing peptide) in the sequence of SELPs can disrupt its self-assembly and that such disruption can only be overcome by EtOH annealing. Our results suggest that postprocessing of as-purified SELPs might be a simple approach to tune the self-assembly of SELPs into biomaterials with bespoke viscoelastic properties beyond the traditional approach of developing SELP libraries via genetic engineering.

Hello world! Our first experimental publication is out 🙂

Check the link below to understand how we tuned the viscoelasticity of silk-elastin-like polypeptides (SELPs) hydrogels without modifying their amino acid sequence. It's all in the β-sheets!

bit.ly/3VKVeZR

Home | López Barreiro Group

Hi BlueSky! We are a research group that uses microbes to make materials at University College London. Follow us for biopolymeric, soft, biobased and living materials! More info at thelbgroup.github.io